Improvement in convertible chairs



' c. VAN-DYECK.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR. No.179,234. -P atented June 27,1876.

I 11 WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

. l MW.

UNITED S'ra'rns CHARLES VANDYEGK, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONVERTIBLE CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 179,234, dated June 27,1876; application filed 7 November 20, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES VANDYEGK, of the city of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson, and State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Folding Sofa-Beds and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device, showing its general construction. Fig. 2 is a view of the same device'when folded up in the form of a chair.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this my invention is to provide a simple device to be used either as a chair, sofa, sofa-lounge, or bed, that will be neat, cheap, and easily operated, and especially adapted to the use of offices, counting-rooms, and other similar purposes where room is an object.

This invention consists in a frame made of wood, the seat part of which in made in two pieces, hinged together in the center, and made to fold up so as to form a seat for the chair, while the head-rest is hinged at the side so as to form the arm when used as a sofa, v

and is held in position by a catch-fastening on the stationary back, as shown in the drawings, in which position it is intended to be used as a chair, or by placing two of them side by side they become a convenientsofa, or

'by separating them and extending the seat and lowering the head-rest they form a comfortable lounge, or by placing them both together, side by side, they make a neat'double bed, when upholstered-according to the usual requirement of such articles.

In the drawings, A is the arm of the chair. B B are the seats or bed-frame, made in two pieces, one, B, of which constitutes the stationary bottom of the chair, and is so arranged as to form a box to answer as a receptacle for thepillows and bedding, while the other, B, is simply a square frame of corresponding size and shape, with slats across the top part to hold the cushions or bedding when not upholstered. This last-nan1ed frame is hinged to the bottom frame of the chair in such a manner as to turn up over it, thereby covering the box containing the bedding, and at the same time forming a comfortable seat for the chair, when upholstered in a suitable manner. 0 U are the legs for supporting the end of the seat-frame, when extended to be used as a bed. D is the head-rest-all of which is made of wood, and in form as shown in the drawing, and hinged to the seat-frame of the chair insuch a manner as to be easily raised or lowered, so as to adjust it in order to answer as the pillow when used as a bed, and is held in position by means of a quadrant-shaped piece of metal working against the back of the chair. E is this quadrant-catch, one end of which is attached to the head-rest, while the other is made to slide against the back of the chair, and is provided with catches that drop over a pin in the back, by means of which the head-rest is held in position. F is the catches in the quadrant, and G is the hook by which the chairs are held together in front when used as a sofa, the corresponding eye being on the other chair, as shown in the drawings.

I am aware that the arm-rests of chairs have been so hinged to the seat-frame that by turning down one of these arm-rests the chair could be converted into a lounge. My improved piece of furniture is distinguished from such and all other folding chairs and folding lounges or sofa-bedsteads in this: that the seat-frame has a joint transversely across it at about midlength, so that it can be lengthened or shortened, according as it is to be used as a chair or as a-lounge by folding or unfolding the seat-frame and the stationary part of the seat-frame has at the end opposite to the joint an adjustable upright frame, and at one side a fixed upright frame, the use of which upright frames changes from arm or head-rest to back, and vice versa, according to the use to which the article of furniture is put. Thus the frame D serves in the one case as an adjustable head-rest, and in the other case as an adjustable back, so as to give to the chair the character of a reclining chair, the frame D being connected to the fixed frame A by a toothed latch-bar, by means of which it may be sustained at a greater or less in- Wm l clination. The hinged part of the seat-frame arm-piece A, and the adjustable back D, with its toothed latch-bar E, all as and for the purpose set forth.

OHABLES VANDYEOK.

Witnesses FRANK'PARDON, CHAS. A. LEHMANN. 

